Let's put it this way, a victory tonight by the Montreal Canadiens over the Carolina Hurricanes, and fans can breathe a bit.

The win would give the Habs 91 points, putting them nine ahead of ninth place Carolina who would have five games remaining. So barring a total collapse the rest of the way, it would merely fall on where the Canadiens finish up in the standings.

But that's just a hypothetical/optimistic call, not a mathematical one. A loss tonight, and it's a few more days of chewing your finger nails.

The Canadiens have won all three of this season's meeting against Carolina, This by no means makes it a simple two points. The Hurricanes are a completely healthy squad like any team in their position, will be battling hard. We saw the same Tuesday night from the Atlanta Thrashers.

Carey Price, who gets the call in goal for the Canadiens, put his team's current position into perspective. "The two points are all that really matters at this point," he said. "When you have teams creeping up behind you, just putting two points on the board is the biggest thing."

With the two teams both playing Tuesday, coaches Jacques Martin and Paul Maurice opted to skip morning practice, so here will likely be no lineup changes 

Cam Ward will start in goal for Carolina.